US: Writers' Guild strike

So are we for this because they're withholding their immaterial labor and showing what is truly subversive about the proletariat experience, or are we against it because their argument bolsters the moral argument for intellectual property rights?

I'm hesitantly for it. Compare the relative strengths of the movie industry and the pirates. Clearly the latter have the upper hand, the companies could not even keep the blu-ray/HDDVD keys off of the internet, no matter how hard they try. I'm not sure if the union actually has the illusions that the industry just doesn't have enough money to pay them higher wages (I hope not), but even if they did, the companies take out loans to meet the raises, try to recoup that through greater intellectual property control of internet media, fail, and the crisis asserts itself at a higher level: between labor and capital on the one hand and between general intellect and intellectual property on the other.

I would assume that we were for it. I did not even know there was a writers union, but in many ways it is akin to doing anything else that does not involve physical labor. You are still selling your labor to the bosses for a wage. I'm not familiar enough with what intellectual property rights are to comment on that though.

Couldn't one claim that almost any non-revolutionary strike strengthens the moral argument for private property? Just not so blatantly as this particular one? I personally like this strike since it shows that Hollywood really is a "culture industry".

I do? I'm just saying that most strikes generally have that mentality where the capitalist unquestionably owns the factory and they are only asking for more money, so that this particular strike is the same as others, only in a bit more caricatured form. Hence even if they are supporting some form of private property, they should still get our support? This was what I meant.

there are actually several writer unions. the Writers Guild is a union of script writers in the entertainment industry. there is also the Newspaper Guild (newspaper journalists' union that merged with CWA), and the National Writers Union (union of freelance journalists and book writers) (a national "local" of UAW).

there are actually several writer unions. the Writers Guild is a union of script writers in the entertainment industry. there is also the Newspaper Guild (newspaper journalists' union that merged with CWA), and the National Writers Union (union of freelance journalists and book writers) (a national "local" of UAW).

And this is the same issue that the NWU won for electronic reproduction in the Tassini vs NY Times case. I'm not sure why the producers even think they can win it with a similar supreme court decision on a nearly identical issue.

I was sitting at lunch with a TV-writer friend on Sunday when his strike assignment arrived on his BlackBerry: four hours, the following day, over the hill in Burbank. He had spent the previous evening grimly reading Joan Didion’s account, in “After Henry,” of the twenty-two-week writers’ strike in 1988, which, according to the L.A. Times, cost the industry about five hundred million dollars. As Didion saw it, the strike “was about respect, and about whether the people who made the biggest money were or were not going to give a little to the people who made the less big money.”

Most people think that this strike will last six months, and that, as before, the writers will not win. People are wondering if, during those months, the loss of biodiversity will bring about the total, irreversible dominance of the nutrient-choking algae of reality TV.

I just spoke to my friend. He and about a hundred other writers were attempting to disrupt the shooting of “Desperate Housewives” by shouting “Shut it down!” and “We write the storia / For Eva Longoria!” Then Longoria had pizza delivered for the strikers.

The Office has shut down for good. Around 2:00 pm Tuesday. The crew has been asked back Wednesday to strike the location, but there will be no more shooting. This is thanks to a complete staff picket from 4:15 am to 3:00 Monday (when they called the day) and 6:45 am Tuesday until they shut it down. It is also thanks to a number of WGAmebers/actors making principled stands and not reporting to work.

Additionally, I've been told that Steve Carell informed NBC he is unable to report to work because he is suffering from “enlarged balls.” Not just enlarged, I'd say, but brass ones. The source on this one adds, "We wish him a happy, slow recovery."

I just spoke to my friend. He and about a hundred other writers were attempting to disrupt the shooting of “Desperate Housewives” by shouting “Shut it down!” and “We write the storia / For Eva Longoria!” Then Longoria had pizza delivered for the strikers.

Fucking at least they're getting pizza out of it eh.

That's it she's getting an entry in celeb working class heroes. And Steve Carell

Just read that united hollywood page - great stuff. Of course they should be paid for that. It is kinda surprising there's never been a strike in The Office...

united hollywood - link please.

I've still not got a handle on what this strike is about - the radio last night said they were striking over piracy or for better controls of copyright. Some bitch said something like 'watching online is killing the industry. If you love your shows don't watch them online'.

Pretty sure it's about royalty payments to writers from the production houses - they don't get paid for legal pay-to-downloads and others (in the same way musicians generally don't get paid for downloads from iTunes etc.). I think that was the point of MJ's lame straw-man attempt at a jokey ultra-left response to the strike. I doubt it's a strike against p2p in any way, although I'm sure some individuals will be against it and the media will pick up on them.

Just read that united hollywood page - great stuff. Of course they should be paid for that. It is kinda surprising there's never been a strike in The Office...

united hollywood - link please.

I've still not got a handle on what this strike is about - the radio last night said they were striking over piracy or for better controls of copyright. Some bitch said something like 'watching online is killing the industry. If you love your shows don't watch them online'.

Featured threads

Posting guidelines

Please read the posting guidelines before posting. If you see anything which falls outside them please use the down' button on the offending post to flag it for the moderators' attention, or in the case of spam, click the 'spam' button. Site admins are listed here, and feedback can be posted in the feedback forum.

Log in for more features

Can comment on articles and discussions Get 'recent posts' refreshed more regularly Bookmark articles to your own reading list Use the site private messaging system Start forum discussions, submit articles, and more...